BooksBarbecue
Back The Game
Chapters (68)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. NOW
  4. One
  5. BEFORE
  6. Two
  7. Three
  8. Four
  9. Five
  10. Six
  11. Seven
  12. Eight
  13. Nine
  14. Ten
  15. Eleven
  16. Twelve
  17. Thirteen
  18. Fourteen
  19. Fifteen
  20. Sixteen
  21. Seventeen
  22. Eighteen
  23. Nineteen
  24. Twenty
  25. NOW
  26. Twenty-One
  27. BEFORE
  28. Twenty-Two
  29. Twenty-Three
  30. Twenty-Four
  31. Twenty-Five
  32. Twenty-Six
  33. Twenty-Seven
  34. Twenty-Eight
  35. Twenty-Nine
  36. Thirty
  37. Thirty-One
  38. Thirty-Two
  39. Thirty-three
  40. Thirty-Four
  41. Thirty-Five
  42. Thirty-Six
  43. Thirty-Seven
  44. Thirty-Eight
  45. NOW
  46. Thirty-Nine
  47. BEFORE
  48. Forty
  49. Forty-One
  50. Forty-Two
  51. Forty-three
  52. Forty-Four
  53. Forty-Five
  54. Forty-Six
  55. Forty-Seven
  56. Forty-Eight
  57. Forty-Nine
  58. Fifty
  59. Fifty-One
  60. NOW
  61. Fifty-Two
  62. Fifty-Three
  63. Fifty-Four
  64. Fifty-Five
  65. AFTER
  66. Fifty-Six
  67. Acknowledgements
  68. About the Author

Mark shook his head, trying to contain his frustration. ‘We’re just waiting for her body to show up, is that what you’re suggesting?’

DS Cavanagh stepped forwards, fixing Mark with a stare. ‘That’s not what is being said, Mark. At the moment, Emily is still missing. Your job is to find her, or give us something more to work on, right?’

Mark swallowed and averted his eyes. ‘I understand.’

‘Good,’ DI Bennett replied, cocking her head to one side and giving him a look of concern that disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. ‘Have you tracked down the father yet?’

‘I think so,’ Mark said. ‘I’m going to speak to him now.’

DI Bennett nodded, then turned to DS Cavanagh to discuss Joanna Carter again.

Mark left them to it and went out.

Alone.

Driving through the city was something Mark enjoyed. Back when he’d started working that side of the water, he was always driving. Exploring the way it was constantly changing before his eyes, the buildings and people shifting with each passing month. It was still all fresh to him, seeing it through new eyes every day.

It meant he still viewed the city as almost another world. One with hidden secrets he wanted to uncover.

After pretending to himself he knew where he was going, he eventually conceded defeat and plugged the street name into his sat nav. The city was a sprawling landscape of towns and estates. He couldn’t know it all. No one did. Still, he wanted to try.

Mark pulled the car to a stop outside a tired-looking block of flats, half an hour outside the city centre. It could have been a different place entirely, a different city. This one seemed to still be clinging on to its past with whitened fingertips: the faded green facade of the building, peeling paint each way you turned. Even the graffiti looked like it was of a different time. As he left the car, he heard shouts and cackling laughter swept on the wind towards him, but the street was empty, apart from a crisp packet swirling in the breeze.

The door that led into the block was ajar, held open by a bit of cardboard so it didn’t close properly. He pushed it open and made his way up the concrete stairs to the second floor, trying to breathe through his mouth as he did so. The cloying smell of decay and ammonia was seeping out of every surface.

This was the forgotten land. The side of the city people elsewhere tried to pretend didn’t exist. The money spent on the waterfront and beyond not stretching this far.

Yet. He hoped that would change.